George.
I didn’t move.
I couldn’t.
I stood still, even after the beast fled.
Even after everything calmed down, the noise... the violence, it all seized, calmness returned to the forest.
The atmosphere felt heavy... uncertain, only broken by the shallow, irregular breathing of the man I used to follow without question.
Lev.
Collapsed, still... eyes calm and human again, if only it would last.
I wanted to rush over to him, to help him.
But something in me hesitated.
Fear? Probably.
Anger? Absolutely.
From the corner of my eye, I noticed a slow movement among the bushes.
Cora.
I turned in time to see her crawling out from behind the oak, her arm pressed against her sides.
That pushed me into action.
I reached her in three long strides, squatting down and as gently as I could,
